*Age Of Consent & Legal Sexual Activity for the State of
19th
January 2006 Email to all Queensland Members of Parliament – on the fifteenth
anniversary of the commencement of the Sodomy Law I wrote to all MP’s calling for support of urgent reform and
drawing their attention to the written opinions of support from Queensland
Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Susan Booth (15 July ’05), from Brisbane Parents & Friends
of Lesbians And Gays (14 July ’05), from over
twenty respected Community Groups (MidOctober ’05) and from 740 signatories
to the Parliamentary
E-Petition (tabled 9 August ’05).
-----
Original Message -----
From: John
Frame
To: all state MP’s were sent an
individual email
Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2006
Subject: QLD Anti-Discrimination
Commissioner supports Equal Age of Consent Law Reform
From: John Frame
82 Main Avenue,
Ph: (07) 3350 1562 /
0409 501 561
Since 1994 John Frame has been presenter of the
gay and lesbian supportive community radio program “Queer Radio” www.queerradio.org on 4ZZZ
fm102.1 in Brisbane. He has been actively seeking this reform of the
Criminal Code since February 2000. Full details, including legal references,
law reform history and all correspondence are stored at www.queerradio.org/AgeOfConsent.htm
January 19th 2006 marks the 15th anniversary of commencement of the
Queensland “Sodomy Law”. That’s fifteen years of actively discriminating
against our State’s 16 and 17 year old youth and placing their health and their
lives at risk.
Reform of the Sodomy
Law under the Criminal Code is long overdue and there is ample official and
popular support for this action.
I urge you to contact
the Premier and the Attorney-General to encourage immediate law reform – as has
been recommended to both of them by the Queensland Anti-Discrimination
Commissioner Susan Booth in her
letter dated 15th July 2005.
In
this email I include a brief outline of
why Sodomy Law Reform is needed now, followed by concise information on the
topics:
·
What is the Queensland Sodomy Law?
·
3 Reasons why the Queensland Sodomy Law should be removed
urgently.
·
Verifiable official and
popular support for Sodomy Law Reform.
A brief outline of why Sodomy Law Reform
is needed now.
Within
every other Australian state or territory the age of consent is equal for all
citizens. However in Queensland the Beattie Government continues to refuse to
equalise the age of consent despite the written advice to do so by Qld
Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Susan Booth: http://www.queerradio.org/AOC150705_ADCQ.htm , as well as written support for reform by
reputable health and community groups (including the Qld AIDS Council) and a
Parliamentary E-Petition which closed on 31st July 2005 with 740 signatories.
Sections
208 & 209 of the Qld Criminal Code set a minimum age of 18 for anal
intercourse, with a 14 year jail term for any offenders. This "Sodomy
Law" stops vital safe sex information on a potentially high risk sexual
activity from reaching 16 and 17 year olds - which is dangerous considering
that our state's HIV infection rate has jumped by 40% in recent years.
Recent
La Trobe University research has shown that anal intercourse is practiced by a
significant percentage of all youth - it is not an exclusively homosexual
activity, but even if it were, parents would want all of their youth protected
and supported by the law, and not just their heterosexual children - as per a
letter from Brisbane Parents of Lesbians and Gays: http://www.queerradio.org/AOC140705.htm
Premier
Beattie and Attorney-General Linda Lavarch refuse to publicly commit to ever
reforming this law, and they also refuse to discuss why they allow a law to
remain in force which they know places youth at high risk of HIV infection, of
self-harm and of suicide.
I've
been corresponding with the Premier and Attorney-General over this matter since
March 2000 and sadly I am seeing no sign of a positive response from either of
them. Full details of my efforts are on my website at: www.queerradio.org/AgeOfConsent.htm
I
can only assume that Mr. Beattie fears that equalising the age of consent will
cost them some votes, however how can he value those votes more than the health
and well-being of our state's youth?
The
Attorney-General advises that this is a “vexed” topic, but surely so were the
rights of women and indigenous people to vote.
The
Beattie Government should not be allowed to continue placing young lives at
risk in order to avoid public discussion of a delicate subject.
Mr.
Beattie recommended specifically against a Sodomy Law in his 1990 PCJC Report
on Homosexual Law Reform - he should have the courage and moral conviction to
repeal it now.
January 19th 2006 marks
the 15th anniversary of the commencement of the Queensland Sodomy Law - it's an
appropriate occasion for Premier Beattie to be pressured to enact reform.
What is the Queensland Sodomy Law?
- Queensland’s Criminal Code sets
a minimum age of 16 for consent to sexual activity. However the Sodomy Law
(Sections 208 & 209) sets a higher age of 18 for any person to consent
to “anal intercourse” and defines a maximum penalty of 14 years gaol for
offenders.
3 Reasons why the Queensland Sodomy Law
should be removed urgently:
- For 16 and 17 year olds, the
Sodomy Law actively impedes access to relevant safe sex education in
regard to anal intercourse – which is potentially the highest risk activity
for the transmission of HIV/AIDS. Proper use of condoms and lubricant is
the effective prophylaxis, and youth need to know that this should be
practiced when engaging in either anal or vaginal intercourse. Queensland
is the only Australian state with an escalating HIV infection rate, so
youth of all sexualities are being placed at increasing risk of infection.
- Because anal intercourse is
often perceived as “homosexual sex”, the Sodomy Law particularly taints
all gay and bisexual 16 and 17 year old males as being potential criminals
– and therefore denies them the acceptance and support that they need from
their peers, family members and counselors. The discrimination they suffer
dramatically increases the risk of self-harm through substance abuse and
suicide.
- Within every
other Australian State or Territory the age of consent for sexual activity
is truly equal. All Queensland youth deserve equal protection and support
under the law – regardless of their gender or sexuality.
Verifiable official and popular support
for Sodomy Law Reform:
1. 14th July 2005 Letter from
Brisbane Parents and Friends of Lesbians
And Gays to Premier Peter Beattie calling for urgent reform of the Sodomy Law. This
letter expresses the great concern of parents for the health and well-being of
their same sex attracted children, just as for their heterosexual children –
and highlighting the critical risks to same sex attracted youth which are
perpetuated by the Sodomy Law. “PFLAG
parents want the government to provide the same rights for our gay youth as our
heterosexual youth.”
2. 15th July 2005 Letter
from Queensland
Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Susan Booth to Attorney-General Rod Welford and to Premier Peter
Beattie declaring that Queensland’s
Sodomy Law “discriminates
on the basis of sexuality. These provisions of the Criminal Code are
inconsistent with the object of the Anti-Discrimination
Act 1991 to promote equality for everyone and protect them from unfair
discrimination, and the premise upon which the legislation was enacted, namely,
that everyone should be equal before
and under the law and have the right to equal protection and equal benefit of
the law without discrimination.” The Commissioner concludes by stating that “It is now imperative that Queensland remove the age
difference for lawful heterosexual and homosexual sex between consenting sexual
partners. These legislative changes will ensure that Queensland law is
consistent with the International Covenant and local discrimination law, it
will reflect contemporary realities of society, and assist in addressing the
increase in HIV infections.”
3. 31st
July 2005 A Queensland Government Parliamentary
E-Petition for Criminal Code Law Reform went online on 1st
February 2005. The E-petition closed on 31st July
2005 with a substantial total of 740 signatories. It was tabled in Parliament
on 9th August and referred to the Attorney-General on the 10th
August 2005. The Minister has not yet responded to that E-petition.
4. Mid October 2005 Community
Services Group letter to the Beattie Government calling for urgent
reform of the Queensland Sodomy Law. Over twenty highly respected health and welfare
community groups and organizations co-signed this letter which had been
initiated by the (1) Open Doors Youth Service,
(2) Brisbane Parents
and Friends of Lesbians And Gays, and (3) peak HIV health
body the Queensland
AIDS Council. Troy Hakala of the Qld AIDS Council advises
that the letter was posted to the five respective Ministers in mid-October.
I
welcome your response or enquiry and I would be happy to direct you to
representative contacts.
Yours
sincerely,
John Frame
presenter of Queer Radio www.queerradio.org
on community radio 4ZZZ fm102.1 Brisbane, Australia
Ph: 07 3350 1562 / 0409 501 561
Post: 82 Main Avenue, Wavell Heights 4012, QLD, Australia.
----"There is no
substitute for equality"----